BLOGDOMACEDO reported that the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office requested the preventive detention of Armando Mendonça, vice president of Corinthians, in the case that investigated suspicions of irregularities with sports materials supplied by Nike. According to the author, the news was published by ge this Friday (16), in a report signed by Bruno Cassucci. The request was forwarded to the 25th Criminal Court by prosecutor Cássio Roberto Conserino after the dismissal of Marcelo Munhoes, former Director of Information Technology of the club and a witness considered important by the prosecution. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the dismissal occurred on the eve of the instruction hearing scheduled for November 10 and could intimidate witnesses or interfere with the production of evidence. Conserino stated that Munhoes had provided relevant technical elements for the investigation and that the dismissal could also affect other employees called to testify. The author added that the prosecutor pointed out the public support of the Corinthians president, Osmar Stábile, for Mendonça as part of the context and raised suspicions of possible interference in the process. Conserino also opened a new investigative procedure to investigate the circumstances of the dismissal and any potential involvement of Mendonça or third parties in acts aimed at interfering with the investigation. According to BLOGDOMACEDO, Mendonça became a defendant in June after the court accepted the Public Prosecutor's Office's charge. He faced accusations of aggravated continued embezzlement, attempted aggravated continued embezzlement, qualified theft by breach of trust, and coercion in the course of the process. According to the accusation, he had appropriated 131 sports items from Nike, attempted to obtain 19 special jerseys with the NFL patch, and kept eight units of the commemorative edition. The Public Prosecutor's Office also accused him of threatening two witnesses. The author reported that the suspicions arose after an internal audit identified irregularities in the management and distribution of Nike materials in Corinthians. Mendonça denied any irregularities, attributed control problems to the previous management, and questioned the consistency of the audit report. According to ge, he was contacted by the report but had not responded by the time of publication. BLOGDOMACEDO emphasized that it was up to the court to decide on the request for preventive detention and that the request did not mean that the arrest had been decreed. The accusations, he added, still depended on due process. #BlogdoMacedo #Corinthians #MinistérioPúblico #Justiça (translated)
